BAHAMAS // PRESS KIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT NOW // JANUARY 27, 2010 January 27, 2010 BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT EXCLAIM // AUGUST, 2009 August 2009 Bahamas Pink Strat By Vish Khanna A gifted guitarist and musician who's bolstered the work of Feist, Hayden and Jason Collett, Afie Jurvanen steps back into the spotlight with Bahamas, a great outlet for the songs he's recorded for graceful debut Pink Strat. Cut from the same cloth as Al Tuck or Peter Elkas, Bahamas is a sleepy, soulful project for an artist with great instincts and the will to execute deceptively simple music with knowing taste. Though the instrumentation is often understated, songs like "Hockey Teeth" reveal a classic sensibility whose wooing charms become more apparent with subsequent listens. The acoustic finger- style and slide guitar employed on "For Good Reason" push the song out of the ordinary, while a great pop heart beats loudly within the sparse, heartbroken "What's Worse?" Five years in the making, Pink Strat finds Bahamas in a pleasant yet emergent state with a promising future ahead. (Nevado) BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT THE GLOBE AND MAIL // FEBRUARY 12, 2010 February 12, 2010 They’re the band with the band You have to hustle to become the opening act on big tours. And it helps to know the booking agent Practice is for rubes and suckers. How do you get to Carnegie Hall (or Ottawa’s National says Riley O’Connor, chairman of Live Nation Canada, the country's biggest concert Arts Centre)? Through a booking agent, that’s how. promoter. O’Conner worked with Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses on a recent Canadian tour that paired the Sweet Child o’ Mine band with homegrown talents Sebastian Bach Wilco fans, flocking to see their heroes later this month in the concert halls of Quebec and, surprisingly, Toronto hard-rockers Danko Jones. “Axl took an interest,” says City, Montreal and Ottawa, will first be confronted by an opening act, Toronto-based O’Conner. “He knew about Danko Jones, and he put his stamp on that choice. I’m Bahamas, which landed the coveted gig warming up stages for the headliners on part of seeing much more of that, especially by the career musicians, from U2 to Iron Maiden.” their current Canadian tour. Bahamas essentially is Afie Jurvanen, usually described as “Feist’s guitarist,” which he often is. He’s got his own lovely album out (the balmy, lightly As you can imagine, the battle to land a spot on U2’s ongoing 360° tour is extremely rocking Pink Strat), and he’s a talented guy, for sure. But the profile of Bahamas is low, hard-fought. Not only are the Irish rockers the biggest band in the world, their class is and Jurvanen’s audience is small. Just how, then, did he land a coveted spot with one of just as outsized. “I’ve never seen anyone show as much respect and hospitality as U2 to the heavyweights of alternative rock? the opening acts they use,” says Arthur Fogel, CEO of global touring at Live Nation. Last summer saw Muse, Snow Patrol and Black Eyed Peas opening for U2, which doesn’t “I had met Wilco’s booking agent, in San Francisco,” Jurvanen explains over coffee in need opening acts to sell tickets. Kensington Market. “He always told me when I had a record out or when I ever had anything going on, on my own, to give him a call.” So, this summer, Jurvanen sent his Fogel, an L.A-based Canadian, has overseen the blockbuster tours of Pink Floyd, the new disc to the agent. From there, the album got into the hands of Wilco. Someone in Police, Neil Young and Madonna – “Arthur knows how to make the impossible that band dug the material, and when the group needed to fill a few bills on their tour, possible,"the Material Girl once said. He recently submitted a list of possible opening Jurvanen was fresh on Wilco’s mind. bands to Bono and Company, and an announcement as to their choices will be made shortly. Because playing in stadiums is something few bands are accustomed to, the Jurvanen’s pal Leslie Feist has collaborated with Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy in the past. “I choice of U2’s touring partners is complicated. “You want someone whose capable of don’t really know,” the easygoing guitarist says when asked if the “1234” counter had pulling it off,” explains Fogel. vouched for him. “I guess I don’t really need to know. I’m just thrilled that it’s happening.” As for Jurvanen, he’s played theatres before, but never with his own band (Bahamas on Booking agencies, who often mix and match within their own rosters of bands, wield stage is composed of Jurvanen and a drummer). “It’s a whole other experience,” says heavy influence on the makeup of tours. Record labels are less involved nowadays – the indie musician, who’ll drive to the Wilco gigs in his Subaru Forrester. “When you’re in they don’t cover touring costs like they used to – and promoters usually are involved loud bar, people are talking and there’s a stagette in the front row, the vibe can be a when local bands are needed to fill out a concert bill. little different. In a theatre, it’s about the music.” Working with the agents, the headliners are becoming more involved in the choice of Bahamas opens three shows on Wilco’s current Canadian tour: Quebec City, Feb. 26; touring partners. “The bands themselves are much more active, at a personal level,” Montreal, Feb. 27; Ottawa, March 1; and Halifax March 3. BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT THE NATIONAL POST // JULY 26, 2009 July 26, 2009 BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT THE GLOBE & MAIL // JULY 21, 2009 July 21, 2009 BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT METRO // JULY 8, 2009 July 8, 2009 BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT CHART // AUGUST 6, 2009 BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT SOUNDPROOF // OCTOBER 1, 2009 BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT INDIEROCKREVIEWS // OCTOBER 31, 2009 BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010 PRESS // BAHAMAS // PINK STRAT SEATTLE WEEKLY // OCTOBER 26, 2009 BAHAMAS // PRESSKIT // 2010.